Ian Moss

From Sequenza21/NetNewMusic Wiki

Ian Moss (b. 1980) began his musical studies at the age of 12 by transcribing classics from the Wee Sing songbook for his computer’s monophonic PC speaker. His first major composition was a “rock symphony” written as an independent study project during his senior year in high school. Despite not receiving any formal musical training before the age of 17, he graduated from Yale University with distinction in the music major, intensive track, serving as the Undergraduate Assistant Conductor of the Yale Glee Club and for two years as President of the Yale College Composers' Group (now known as Igigi), an organization he founded in the fall of 2000.

Moss’s music unabashedly combines the ethereal with the gutteral, as demonstrated by the long-held lush harmonies in his choral works and the intense metrical syncopation found in his pieces for electric chamber ensemble. From 2004 to 2007, Ian was the leader of the new music ensemble Capital M, which sought real and total integration of the instruments and sounds from rock music into a post-classical conceptual milieu. The band appeared on the 2005 CMJ Music Marathon and presented two annual World Premieres Extravaganzas featuring music by composers outside the group, including one of the very last performances at the legendary New York music venue Tonic. In addition to Capital M, Moss’s music has been performed or read by ensembles including the Princeton Singers, Forecast Music, Cerddorion, Due East, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and the Way Blue Bucket. Ian's piece Miniatures for violin and marimba was premiered in Alaska at the 20th Annual Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival in May 2006.

Moss is active as a choral conductor and directed John Stafford’s Ave Maria with Anti-Social Music as well as the world premiere of Peter Green’s Philaex as part of the Sonic Circuits International Festival of Electronic Music in 2002. He has sung baritone with the Dessoff Choirs, the Canticum Novum Singers, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, and the Yale Glee Club at venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and Academy of Music, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He is co-founder of C4: The World's First Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, a new vocal ensemble that provides performance opportunities at a high level for emerging composers and conductors. Ian is currently pursuing an MBA with a focus on philanthropy and the arts at the Yale School of Management.

Major Works

Obelisk (2007) for two electric guitars, bass guitar, drum set, bass clarinet, men's voices, and electronics

Out Loud (2007) for SATB chorus

Three Miniatures for Violin and Marimba (2006)

Art (2006) for two electric guitars, bass guitar, drum set, alto saxophone, women's voices, and laptop

Riff Study No. 1 (2005) for two electric guitars, bass guitar, drum set, alto saxophone, and process vocals

Movement for Flute and Percussion (2004)

We Kindle This Fire This Day (2004) for SATB chorus

Reinventing the Wheel (2004) for two electric guitars, bass guitar, drum set, clarinet/alto saxophone, and processed vocals

Blackout (2004) for two electric guitars, bass guitar, drum set, alto saxophone, and processed vocals

Drum Cells (2002/03) for blues band and live electronics

Narciso (2002-03) for 12-part mixed chorus

Essay for Rock Band and Orchestra (2002)

Piano Trio (2001)

Guitar Trio (2000) for two electric guitars, bass guitar

This Living Hand (2000) for SATB chorus

To Anny (1999) for piano

Zuhalhter (1999) for tenor saxophone and piano (aka "The AOL Instant Messenger piece")

Five Clarinet Preludes (1999)

Friends Who Play Instruments (1999) for 3 violins, saxophone, trombone, and piano

For No Apparent Reason (1998) for guitars, solo violin, solo piano, chorus, and string orchestra

External Links

The official site
Brother, Can You Spare $500: A Guide to Individual Fundraising for Composers by Ian Moss, copyright 2005 NewMusicBox
File Under: Ambiguous by Ian Moss, copyright 2004 NewMusicBox